Hi, I was wondering why does a song sound louder, when I play it in Logic and not so loud when i turn them into a MP3 file or when I burn it. Its weird because after burning a song I have to turn the volume up to max on my cd player just to get a average volume level. Is there anyway I could increase the volume level? Please Help!
Thanks, Abhi

Hi Abhi,
The process (post Mixing) is called Mastering. It is a science in itself... and can often add that 5% extra sheen to a track that makes it stand out of the crowd.
What I'd recommend is when mixing leave some headroom on the output 1-2 (4-5 dB) and bounce the mix.
Now commence with the mastering process. Some people like using Waveburner for this... I'm happy with Logic... you can then check out some plug-ins like the Limiter, AdLimiter, Compressor etc etc... to make your track louder - more like commercial records.
It's also a good idea to import a similar sty;e commercial track you like into Logic and compare the waveforms and dynamics.
Cheers
Rounik

Hey Abhi,
Headroom refers to the space between the peak of the level meter and 0dB.
For example if in Output 1-2 your meter reaches -2.3dB. That means you have less headroom than if the meter peaks at -4dB.
Mixing so that your final track peaks a few decibels lower than 0 is good practice - especially if you decide to add some other fx before you master the track...and you can always raise the levels during mastering.
If you want to do a quick master, finish your mix and place an Adlimiter on the Output 1-2 track... play with some of the presets, making sure the output never gos above 0db... but pushing the rest of the track to a louder position depending on your taste.
Cheers
Rounik

Hi Abhi,
That's an interesting idea. I don't think a good tutorial exists yet. Mixing is easier to teach, but I'd love to be proved wrong :-)
But one of the reasons that Mastering engineers and pro studios still exist is because mixing or mastering in a normal everyday room with reflections and inconsistent sound traps etc is very difficult.
The room, speaker setup, bass traps etc are all really important when mastering and mixing.
There is a possibilty of a tutorial based on setting up the studio that could be of interest:
[url]http://tnttutorials.macprovideo.com/forum/general/tnt-beta&id=10958[/url]
What i would suggest is to check out the mixing series tutorials for electronica and rnb... and experiment with the adlimiter and the Output 1-2's Channel strip settings.
Do check out the Plug-ins unplugged tutorial as it talks in depth about how to use the compressor, limiter and ad limiter amongst other great plug-ins :-)
[url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/logicPlugins1[/url]
Cheers
Rounik

Hi Abhi,
I should have mentioned that the Plug-ins unplugged tutorial does use the Logic 7 plug-ins. IMHO these are mainly aesthetic changes, besides from the different compressor modes in the Compressor plug-in, and the tutorial is still very much applicable to understanding how and why to use the plug-ins covered.
Also, I forgot to mention the Logic 305: Waveburner tutorial, in which JF Brisette does a fantastic job showing how to use Waveburner for CD Mastering:
[url]http://www.macprovideo.com/tutorial/waveburner[/url]
So many great tutorial to choose from!
:-)
Rounik

[quote:29167]Hi, I was wondering why does a song sound louder, when I play it in Logic and not so loud when i turn them into a MP3 file or when I burn it. [/quote]
Hi guys,
For more info on mastering, the "Mastering guide with Ozone" is an interesting read even if you don't own this plugin.[url]http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html[/url]
... but you mentioned that your MP3 is lower than the sound in Logic ? With the level set at maximum in iTunes or Quicktime, the result bounce file should have exactly the same amplitude as the song playing in Logic. Is that your case ?
Christian

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